Global Corporate Venturing Rising Stars Awards 2016: Sarah Fisher

The burden of proof for starting something inside a corporation – intrapraneuring in the jargon – remains high.

Some groups will only consider a new market or region if they can expect an 80% market share. Others will metaphorically stay in bed unless projected revenues could hit $1bn.

Sarah Fisher, senior director of global markets for external innovation at US-based healthcare company Johnson & Johnson’s medical devices division, is even more of a rarity in being a serial intrapreneur.

She has risen up through the corporation’s ranks over the past 13 years in part due to having had various commercial and operational roles within five different intrapreneurial ventures, as well as one post-acquisition commercial integration venture, according to her biography for the Corporate Entrepreneurs conference.

Her role gives her licence for this. She said: “I work in a small team under our chief medical, scientific and technology officer, co-developing our innovation strategy globally, and sourcing new medical technology innovation and strategic alliances worldwide.

“I would not consider mine to be a traditional CVC role because, in my industry the best people to source medical device technology have a strong medical and technical background.

“My attraction to this area of business is primarily in shaping the value proposition of these technologies in the front end and shaping the opportunity by aligning with other strategics or complementary partners in the sector to ensure we bring valuable assets to market and also that we realise the value from our investments.”

She was an inaugural recipient of the consultancy Corporate Entrepreneurs’ Hall of Fame award back in 2010. In a 2013 article entitled “Intrapreneurs: Commitment, Conviction and Courage”, which Fisher co-authored with former colleague Sarah Foley from Corporate Entrepreneurs for the latter’s blog, she summed up her belief: “If you see that the corporation is headed in the wrong direction, you must be willing to speak up and voice your opinion. If you think an executive decision is a mistake, you must defend your position and give them an alternative to reconsider their position. If you feel compelled to take a stand, you must be willing to put your job on the line. A true intrapreneur will do just that.”

Fisher has done this through her advocacy for change in Brazil, summarised in another Corporate Entrepreneurs’ blog post, headlined: “Entrepreneurs and Intrapreneurs: Connecting International Experience with Opportunity”.

Since then, her work for Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Healthcare Innovation division in the Netherlands saw her lead a pilot concept to new business commercialisation for an undisclosed integrated care delivery service, after which she was promoted from director to senior director.

She started her career with Johnson & Johnson in New York City in sales before completing her MBA in entrepreneurship at Babson College in Wellesley, MA and her post-graduate diploma in Global Business at Oxford University in the UK. She later spent time working in Canada and the Netherlands.

Fisher is also a non-executive advisor to several external startups.